Two Tyler men arrested in November admitted their involvement in a pair of armed robberies in which they threatened to shoot at least one store clerk.

Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith indicated in a Nov. 22 news article that the two men were dangerous, and he was glad to have them off the street.

But the Tyler Morning Telegraph learned this past week that Jacobi Tywan Washington, 21, and Jacob Lee Roper, 20, recently were released from the Smith County Jail on personal recognizance bonds after the Smith County Sheriff’s Office failed to submit cases to the grand jury for consideration for indictment.

“I will confirm that we have once again failed to file a case in a timely manner,” Sheriff Smith said Tuesday. “I have instructed the CID (Criminal Investigations Division) supervisor to conduct an internal investigation regarding this failure. I am not at all pleased with the situation.”

Roper and Washington had been held in the Smith County Jail on bonds totaling $220,000, each on felony charges, including two counts of aggravated robbery and burglary of a building.

Their release comes less than eight months after the Tyler Morning Telegraph reported eight people arrested on felony charges were released between 2013 and July 2014 after sheriff officials failed to present cases to the district attorney.

Smith said he believed the case should have been filed with the DA’s office in two to three weeks after the defendants’ arrests.

“I make no excuses whatsoever for our inability to do so,” Sheriff Smith said.

Records show Roper was released on Feb. 23, after spending 89 days in jail and Washington was released on March 2, after 102 days in jail.

Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham said the men were released after the cases were not filed with his office in time, and 114th District Judge Christy Kennedy reduced bonds in the case per the law.

Judge Kennedy declined to comment on the case, but her office referred the newspaper to Article 17.151 of the Texas Criminal Procedure, which states, “a defendant who is detained in jail pending trial of an accusation against him must be released either on personal bond or by reducing the amount of bail required, if the state is not ready for trial of the criminal action for which he is being detained within 90 days from the commencement of his detention if he is accused of a felony.”

“We got both of these cases with no time to present them to the grand jury,” Bingham said. “One of them we got at 90 days and the other one we got at 89 meaning we would have had to take it to the grand jury that day. Unfortunately that was on a Tuesday and grand jury meets on Thursday. There was no choice for the judge but to turn them loose on the PR bonds. That is the law.”

Smith said in July that new procedures would be put in place and he hoped better communication between his office and the district attorney would quell further problems.

Bingham said Tuesday the communication has greatly improved, but he was concerned about the recent lapse.

“Obviously this is a serious offense, and anytime you have a gun involved in a crime, the case is very important to us,” he said. “The communication has been better and this is the first time we have had problems of this nature since last July.”

Smith reiterated Bingham’s opinion that the working relationship between the two offices has improved dramatically since July 2014.

Bingham said the men can still be indicted, but according to the law, they cannot be jailed again, since they were released on PR bonds.

If convicted and sentenced to prison, the men would be taken into custody at that time.

Twitter: @KenDeanOfTyler